2017 in Review

2017 ended in a blink of an eye. At least for me. Oh well, I was sleeping during the new year's eve and when I woke up, all the fireworks and new year's hype has been long gone 😂 2017 was ordinary, I wasn't sure what to feel about it. The thing that I realized is I'm getting bored with my life and I don't feel excited about anything anymore, which really is sad because I felt empty. When you felt this much emptiness, you began to lose yourself. Even so, there were quite big moments that made my long boring life became a little less boring too and I'd like to write about them here.

Maximphonia and National Folklore Festival 2017

Some of PSM UIN Jakarta Alumni decided to form an independent choir and we named it Maximphonia. We formed Maximphonia for those who are no longer able to join PSM UIN rehearsal due to their busy schedules at work and only have free time during weekends. So, the members who joined are those who have been absent from choir for a long time, which means we have to start from scratch and learn how to sing choir from the beginning again. We also decided to join the National Folklore Festival 2017 at the Faculty of Economy at the University of Indonesia in March and I was assigned as treasurer. We ranked 6th out of 18 choirs which are great since we actually prepared this competition by ourselves without a professional coach or professional arranger. We truly joined the competition to bring back all the good feelings about singing in the choir and I dare to say we accomplished our goals. We truly had fun throughout the process and we never felt that relaxed during the competition before ❤

I Passed My Undergraduate Thesis Defense

Well, after 7 years (yes, you read it correctly, 7 YEARS!) of college, I finally did my Undergraduate Thesis Defense in July. It was quite a hectic day, my lecturer gave me the wrong schedule so I ended up late and we had to rush preparing the foods and everything. Luckily, my examiners were willing to wait and didn't show any sign of annoyance (special treatment for final year students I guess 😂). The thesis defense went for only 45 minutes on my part and I was able to give them satisfying answers and results despite the fact that I was super nervous. Well, how can't I? After such miscommunication with the schedule, I thought they would have canceled my thesis defense and change it to another day 😅 Thanks to such kind examiners, I was able to enjoy it and get a good grade for it. Some of my friends also came to support me although I only informed them about the defense that very morning to ask for prayers. Julian, Putri (who brought me a really huge flowers bouquet ❤), Wicak (who brought me flowers and support from Bayu who couldn't come), Aulia (who brought me my favorite Good Day coffee with Iqbal's support as well), and Mella (who also brought me Good Day coffee 😃). And of course Diah, Amel, Wardah, who helped me a lot during the process. They are the biggest part of this process and without them, I might have given up college a long time ago. Thank you!

Additional Singer for Bianglala Voices

It was not the first time for me to be an additional singer for Bianglala Voices, a vocal group of adult singers whose members are also my seniors in PSM UIN Jakarta and my choir coach, Bu Tanti, and Om Freddy. Bu Tanti always gives me chances to experience new things in musical fields and most of the jobs I got were all from her. I can never thank her enough for always believe in me and entrust me with such responsibility. That kind of support made me truly grateful and gave me courage because I often don't feel good about myself. 

What made this event special was because I was assigned to sing a solo part during Endah 'n Rhesa's song, When You Love Someone, during Bianglala Voices' performance at Earhouse Cafe. Earhouse is Endah and Rhesa's cafe and we got to sing in front of them. For someone like me, it was truly an amazing experience and an honor to sing that song in front of the artists themselves. Om Bintang, the one who leads the performance was a strict person but he entrusted me with this solo part to surprise Endah and Rhesa, and it was successful 😂 They really didn't expect us to perform that song for them because Om Bintang introduced it as a K-Pop song. My parents were also present at that moment and Om Bintang introduced me to the audience with such kind words and even thanked my parents for letting me join them even if it means I had to stay until midnight for rehearsal. I swear I love the look in my mother's eyes that night. I haven't seen those many stars in her since I won Writing Competition at National Championship in 2010. I can never thank Bianglala Voices enough for this experience ❤

Bandung and Padang Trip

I was able to visit many places in Indonesia this year (thanks to mudik as always) but two places that left a really special impression in me were Bandung and Padang. I visited Padang for the first time for my cousin's wedding and we had a chance to sightseeing although for only one day. The best thing about Padang is food. I swear they taste much much tastier than in Jakarta 😂 And even now as I'm writing this, I can't help but craving for more of Padang cuisines. I got to see Jam Gadang Tower and got permission to climb to the rooftop with my cousins too. My cousin's father has quite huge influence and role in Padang and I'm grateful to get that special privilege because.... well, it's not every day you get the chance to get to the rooftop of Jam Gadang Tower, right?! 😂

Bandung Trip was special because for the first time in forever, I was able to go on a vacation with my friends, Iqbal and Erna, without my parents or seniors or any study/organisation event. It was purely for vacation. It was only a 2 days trip but it was still memorable to me. We didn't go to any expensive places because we didn't have time (or money lol), but thankfully, Mr. Ridwan Kamil has designed every spot in Bandung into a beautiful place for Instagram. So, we were able to enjoy every place we visited and went home satisfied and re-charged (and craved for more Bandung 😁)

Hmm... Now that I think back to the past, this year wasn't so bad. My two best friends also got married and I took a big part in their wedding, we also had some nice little celebrations and were able to meet up way more often than before. Those were such good memories, so why do I still feel empty? Why do I feel like it was a boring year? When did it go down? Is it the fact that our family had troubles with building our new house? Is it the fact that I was unable to help much that I felt worthless? Is it a part of becoming an adult? I miss being a part of something. Maybe the reason I felt this much emptiness is because I stopped singing choir. I didn't fall in love with anybody either. And I've kinda lost connection with some of my precious people. So, to find my happiness, I need to find or create a place where I belong. But what is it? I don't even know what I'm looking for but I truly wish I would find that thing that I lost. 

2018.... Please treat me kindly ❤

2015 in review

Time flies...

Suddenly, 2015 ends in a blink of an eye. It felt so fast, for me at least, compared to last year. What are you doing in this new year's eve? I guess I've stopped celebrating the new year's eve. Last year, during the fireworks moments, I was sleeping on the plane and didn't really remember that it was the time when people in the whole world were celebrating the new year. Come to think of it, this year turned out to be so much better than I expected, not as amazing as 2013 which still remain as the best year of my life so far, but 2015 is somewhat.... a turning point for me. There are so many things that I could finally changed this year about myself whereas in 2014, I failed miserably and rather stuck in the most miserable point. Alhamdulillah...

1. Healed

I started 2015 with my heart overwhelmed with peace after I got back from my first umroh with my brothers. It's like my soul got re-charged into 250%. All of the things that hurt me in 2014, were healed after I went umroh. I just felt at peace for quite a while at that time, and definitely so much closer to Allah SWT although, I'm not yet perfect, but I want to be better. It's baby steps, insha Allah, but I'll get there. Amin.

2. PSM UIN Jakarta

On November 2014, I decided to take a break from PSM UIN Jakarta, although I was still in charge as cantora, I still wanted to quit the job and tried to do something so they will replace me. I stopped coming to PSM UIN Jakarta, for 2 months. I told them that I wanted to focus on my thesis, when the truth is, I just wanted to escape. The reason for that was because I lost confidence. It's not like I had a lot of it, I don't even have 50% of confidence, and then suddenly I lost it even more, to a zero point. 

I failed in so many tests in 2014, such as choir audition or school stuffs. I felt worthless. I felt that I didn't deserved to be in that place any longer. I didn't want to have anything to do with choir anymore. I thought. But in January, my friend, Azis, who was (and still is) a conductor of PSM UIN Jakarta, asked me to be Artistic on Duty for PSM UIN Jakarta anniversary. So, I forced myself to come back and do my job, and ended up, stuck in PSM again.... until now. I didn't regret it though. I know that I can never leave a place that I called home. It remains as one of my comfort zones and I know I should never run away from it.

3. Voice of Indonesia

I forgot when the audition was held, it was during January or February, but anyway, I decided to try again. I decided to test myself and see if I could change my weakness. Voice of Indonesia is so much different than most choirs. It's about your ability to sing solo, and your ability to perform and entertain people. It's a show choir. Something that I long desired, but didn't have enough confidence to have it.

So, I and my friend, Sabrin, decided to audition. I still remember the feeling that I got when I sing in front of Rio Silaen, the founder and coach of VOI. It was actually the first time that I didn't feel nervous, and I could sing with all my heart. I guess it has something to do with his piano skills too. He tried me with different keys, and he forced me to sing wholeheartedly. And I did. Maybe it's because of the song too. I offered him 3 songs, but he tried me in On My Own from Les Miserable song the most.

So, yeah... I passed the audition. It was such a wonderful moment and experiences, learning, singing, and performing with Voice of Indonesia. They are different than most choirs, and the people in it were just so nice. This place taught me about professionalism in performing, without losing the soul in the song we sing.

Unfortunately, I had to resign on September 2015 because of so many reasons. I don't know if I regretted it or not, but I will be forever thankful for being able to be a part of them, even only for short period. They give me back my confidence, and I'm thankful for it.

3. Album Garuda - PSM UIN Jakarta and Garuda Baseball

This is the last job that I had in PSM UIN Jakarta as Artistic on Duty. We worked on this album for about 2 months, I had to learn all the songs in it, find the singers, arrange the rehearsal, and stay in the recording studio with PSM. I worked with Tira to finish this album. It was tiring, we had to stay late outside every day. We spent most of our time at Kak Sattam's studio. Reading and learning new songs as fast as we can. I learned to manage my own emotion when working with many different people and different personalities. I'm glad that because of this job, I got to know Kak Sattam better and, working with Kak Kromong again is just one of the best things ever.

The end of this project (for me at least) was at the anniversary of Garuda Baseball & Softball at FX. We performed most of the songs in this album. It was great, watching so many children who are passionate in sports, and singing for them. It was also the last time I ever conducted in a performance I guess. My job in PSM ended in a way that I could never forget. It was not magnificent concert, and rather a simple and fun event, but it was memorable. It made me grateful to have PSM, and I'm grateful that 'til the last time, I can do a little thing for the organization that has given me so much.

4. Zaskia Sungkar Jakarta

Thanks to Adhya, now I worked at Zaskia Sungkar Jakarta boutique. Honestly, I never imagined myself, not even once, to work in a fashion company. It was never be my dream job at all... but who would have thought that it's not always dream that could make us happy? Sometimes, good environment and good people, could make it so much better than we thought it would be? This workplace is not heaven where there's no conflicts. Misunderstanding will always happen. but my bosses are one of the nicest people I ever met. My friends at work are nice and humble, even with such great talents, they remain down to earth. And when a workplace is filled with these kind of people, even if you're not working in your dream job, you will still be happy.

5. Friendship

I learned who or what  true friend is, and that true friend don't always refer each other as any kind of label. They just prove it. It's not about whom you spent most of your time with anymore. It's about the action rather than the person. Sometimes, we think of someone as our best friend, but we never knew if they think the same way about us. Like a one-sided love in friendship. And it happened to me.

Even after I learned the truth about everything, I will not forget that they have painted so many beautiful memories in my life.

True friendship, they are true when they changed you into a better person. They don't tell you promises or call you best friend all the time, but when you need them, they will be there for you.

Come to think of it, I never really spend the new year's eve alone before:

in 2015: I had my brothers and the whole Jamaah Surabaya with me on the plane, although we were asleep during the new year, lol

in 2014, I had Bayu, Adhya, Iqbal, Hafid, Syifa, and Nisa, we celebrated the new year at my house, although there was a feud between us but we through it all.

in 2013, I had Bayu, Adhya, Julian, Hafid, Gisti, Syifa, Mini, Nunena, Bhisma, Dandy, and Erni. We celebrated the new year at my house too.

In 2012, I had Kartika and Vina with me.

In 2011, I had my mabit friends and spent the rest of the night with Robby, Jihan, Bams, Kak Hen, kak Usman, Tari, Maya, Tyas, Bunda Dewi, dan Mia

We always celebrated the new year at my house because the fireworks are great in here. There are so many of them, so we don't have to go too far to witness great fireworks. There's a saying that you will spend the rest of the year with the people whom you've spent the new year's eve with. Tonight... I don't celebrate new year. I don't spend it with anyone. Does it mean I will spend the rest of 2016 by myself? 

We'll see~

All Thoughts Packed in One Post

Assalamualaikum. Wr. Wb.

A friendly reminder that you will waste 3 minutes of your life if you're reading this lame post. Before you continue, I suggest you to open a new tab and open a better web to read.

Do you still want to continue?

Well, I've warned you.

The last time I wrote here was two months ago?! Wow, never thought that I would leave blog for that long, but now here I am again, in need for a place to let out my feelings, anxieties, troubles, etc.. LOL. Some things never change, aren't they?

I'm currently at the end of my college life, and I've never felt so stressed about it, simply because I'm always drawn to do the things that I love instead of what I must do. I'd rather do my job as cantora in PSM and take care of those singing lessons, events, projects, etc, instead of doing my thesis. Seeing my friends graduated one by one really makes me happy, but terrified at the same time. I had issue with overthinking and I can't help but think that I might would never have a chance to graduate as long as I'm still doing the things I love, rather than what I must do. These thoughts keep bugging me, that's why my insomnia is getting worse, because all of those terrifying thoughts seemed to come to the surface of my mind when I'm alone. It's sucks to be someone who can only focus on the things she loves.

Maybe I'm just really a sucker for things like thesis and school stuffs like this. :-(

On a brighter note, I'm quite relieved that my job as cantora in PSM will be over this month. It means, I would finally be able to concentrate on my thesis. I'm having a lot of fun doing my job for two years in Artistic Department, and honestly, I think if I were asked to continue doing it, I will still agree to do it because I understand more and more about my job and artistic and finally know what I want to do in it. Two years are not enough to build a strong artistic department, I think, especially when you began to understand what your job description is, and what you want to build and improve, you just want to continue doing it, and especially when you already feel so comfortable in it... But like the famous quotes said, nothing lasts forever. I know I have to put an end for myself and let the new generation replace me. I need to entrust my dreams and job to them and give them chance to learn, and especially let them feel the excitement of being in Artistic. It's always good when you're working for arts and that's why my thesis is always number 2, or maybe even 5 in my to-do-list lol. I'm not quite sure if I regretted it or not for being this way, but I know I'm happy for being able to do my best for the organization that I love.

I don't know where my life is going to take me from now, honestly, I never really imagined my life without PSM, and I never imagined that I would be at this point of college. I know I should be the one who decide where I must going from now, decide things for myself, and create my future. But honestly, I'm just not that kind of cool person who has the guts to dream big or have their future set in their mind. All I know is I need to graduate this year and continue doing the arts. I need to find a way to go to Japan somehow, and I still need to find a way to buy a new camera. 

Wow, this post is so lame and has no good closure. Sorry that you have wasted your time reading it lol. I've warned you, though :p

Wassalamualaikum. Wr. Wb.

Snowball

Snowball adalah permainan (entah bisa disebut permainan atau tidak) yang gue kenal sekitar empat tahun lalu di acara Aroma Mabit Nurul Fikri saat gue masih aktif-aktifnya. Caranya adalah dengan membentuk lingkaran bersama teman-teman kita, kemudian masing-masing orang diberi kertas. Kertas tersebut dinamai oleh pemiliknya masing-masing, kemudian diberikan ke teman di sebelahnya. Si teman yang mendapat kertas dengan nama kita harus menulis apapun yang berhubungan dengan diri kita, boleh jadi pesan dan kesan, atau sekedar tulisan nggak penting tipikal sahabat yang males bersikap formal, hehehe. Kertas masing-masing orang akan terus diputar sampai kertas tersebut kembali ke si pemiliknya, dengan begitu dia akan mendapat catatan dari semua orang di lingkaran tersebut. Itulah kenapa permainan ini dinamakan snowball~ Menurut gue, sih, permainan ini hanya seru dilakukan bersama orang-orang yang memang sudah mengenal kita dengan baik.

Anyway, semalam gue bersama kawan-kawan Maximilian bermain snowball setelah berbuka puasa bersama. Gue pun iseng membuka notes snowball empat tahun lalu bersama kawan-kawan Aroma, dan gue agak kaget dengan perbedaan komentar yang cukup signifikan tentang diri gue karena ini berarti gue mengalami perubahan karakter yang drastis.

Kesimpulan dari notes snowball kawan-kawan Aroma 4 tahun lalu:

1. Suka Jepang (masih sampai sekarang....)

2. Good singer

3. Kadep yang baik (alhamdulillah, selalu takut sebenarnya dengan tanggung jawab itu dulu)

4. Bawel (that's odd... now, I can barely talk to people haha)

5. Jangan suka begadang

6. Fave teacher 

7. Selalu penuh semangat

8. Seru, rame, asik...

9. Selalu terlihat sangat 'hidup'

Kesimpulan dari catatan kawan-kawan Maximilian yang gue dapat adalah: 

1. Pendiam

2. Harus lebih percaya diri untuk tampil (cuma bisa senyum baca ini)

3. Pemalu

4. Introvert

5. Jangan menyimpan semua hal sendirian

6. Move on (ini 'sih pesan dari orang-orang yg susah move on juga sebenernya 😛)

7. Good singer (yang ini zonk sih karena semua anak Maxi yang notabene padus kan penyanyi juga)

8. Punya sikap dingin dan cuek

9. Best friend (you know who you are guys!! :"))

10. Jangan suka begadang (some things never changed haha)

Entah point of view yang mana yang menggambarkan gue yang sesungguhnya, dan entah bagaimana gue bisa begitu terlihat 'hidup' empat tahun lalu, sedangkan sekarang, sepertinya yang terlihat dari gue hanya seperti zombie berjalan. Mungkin karena empat tahun lalu adalah masa peralihan dari remaja ke dewasa, ada sebuah semangat yang membuncah terhadap tantangan di depan gue. Gue begitu perfeksionis, yang gue inginkan hanya melakukan yang terbaik. Gue bisa berbicara lepas dan banyak dengan orang-orang. Gue tidak pernah sekalipun melewatkan kegiatan kumpul-kumpul bersama dan sebagainya, gue merasa hidup dari energi kuat orang-orang di sekitar gue saat itu. 

Hari ini, saat ini, di masa gue hidup sekarang, gue berubah. Entah sejak kapan gue semakin menikmati kesendirian, dan semakin menghindari keramaian dan pandangan orang-orang. Gue menghindari berbagai ikatan yang terlalu erat dan semakin sulit untuk menyampaikan sesuatu, atau lebih tepatnya merasa tidak perlu untuk menyampaikan sesuatu itu. Semangat membara untuk bersosialisasi yang dulu ada itu seolah padam. Segala target dan cita-cita semakin gue sederhanakan dan hal yang paling gue inginkan sekarang hanyalah ketenangan jiwa dan kesembuhan.

Terkadang gue bertanya-tanya, bagaimana gue bisa begitu hidup dulu? Seolah gue nggak pernah mengalaminya karena gue begitu menikmati diri yang sekarang. Tentu saja yang ada pada diri gue sekarang jadi terlihat negatif di mata orang lain dibanding positifnya. Gue rasa kebanyakan orang lebih menyukai sosok yang talkative dan terbuka. Sedangkan gue jauh dari semua itu. But at the end of the day, I like who I am. I love my solitude and I love my peace. Ramadhan ini, gue semakin merasa terkendali dan semakin merasa bahwa terkadang, kedamaian itu memang didapatkan dari kesendirian, tapi bukan dengan hidup sendiri. Gue tidak bisa hidup sendiri, tapi gue juga tidak bisa hidup dengan terlalu banyak orang.. 

Anyway, the iftar with Maximilian was fun, I think we are blessed with that sense of togetherness that will stick with us until the end, inshaa Allah. Ameen.

Kami Semakin Tangguh!

Sebelum berakhir, ingin mengucap syukur atas apa yang telah dilewati sepanjang kepengurusan di PSM UIN Jakarta sejak Juni 2013 hingga sekarang. Pejuang Tangguh! Nama itu melekat dalam diri kita menjadi sebuah identitas untuk menghadapi segala tantangan ke depan. Semakin kuat kami berdiri, semakin tinggi angin yang menerjang, mungkin karena itulah tahun ini kami menghadapi banyak ujian dan tantangan saat menjalani organisasi yang kami sangat sayangi ini. Tapi, atas dasar memiliki mimpi yang satu, kami bertahan dan tetap melangkah maju. Terjang kami dengan angin dan badai sekencang apapun, kami tidak akan pernah berhenti berusaha mencapai tujuan kami untuk mengembangkan dan mengharumkan organisasi ini, tempat kami bertemu, tempat kami belajar, tempat kami bercita-cita. Coba robohkan kami, coba tebang kami, segala ujian dan usaha menjatuhkan itu hanya semakin menguatkan kami untuk bersatu. 

"Maxi will stand strong for one of the longest periods in PSM..."

Kata-kata dari senior yang waktu itu belum kami benar-benar anggap serius ternyata terbukti sekarang, dan bukan karena merasa spesial atau sombong, tapi pada kenyataannya, kecintaan kami pada PSM sepertinya sudah mendarah daging, ditambah adanya sebuah mimpi yang kami ingin wujudkan bersama. Saat kepengurusan ini berakhir, entah apakah gue akan kembali naik di Artistik atau tidak, gue akan tetap kembali pulang ke PSM, rumah kedua. Sebagai pengurus atau sekedar anggota, PSM sudah menjadi salah satu sumber kehidupan. Sampai bertemu di akhir Mei dan semoga berhasil untuk para pengurus baru. Tantangan baru di depan kalian, jangan pernah menyerah.

Selamat Hari Kelahiran, Para Pejuang Tangguh!

Dua tahun lalu, tepatnya pada tanggal ini, kami semua berkumpul di Aula Student Center UIN Jakarta, hari pertama Training Paduan Suara PSM UIN Jakarta. Pertama kalinya diperkenalkan bahwa nama angkatan kami adalah Maximilian yang berarti Pejuang yang Tangguh! Kemudian, satu persatu dipanggil dan diberi nama baru, nama PSM: Nama yang aneh dan unik dimana semuanya diambil dari judul lagu atau istilah musik. Saat itu, nggak ada rasa peduli sedikitpun terhadap orang di sekeliling, nggak pernah terpikirkan sedikitpun bahwa nama Maximilian akan menjadi begitu berarti, nggak menduga sama sekali bahwa separuh jiwa akan menyatu dengannya...

Dua tahun sudah sejak itu, dan nggak ada satu haripun yang gue lewati bersama mereka tanpa meninggalkan kesan yang mendalam hingga sekarang, meskipun itu hanya tawa untuk imajinasi liar (kita lebih sering ngomongin khayalan absurd daripada gosipin tokoh tertentu!), ataupun melakukan projek-projek besar yang tidak pernah kita duga akan mampu kita lalui. Gue bersyukur terlahir di angkatan Maximilian. Alhamdulillah, dua tahun kebersamaan ini merupakan salah satu momen paling berharga yang pernah gue alami. Terimakasih ya Allah atas anugerah persahabatan yang Engkau berikan untuk kami. Semoga Engkau pertemukan kami di Surga-Mu. Aaaamin.

A little flashback :')

Happy 2nd Anniversary, My Precious Maximilian 💗

It's not too late to say "Happy Fasting!"

Ramadhan 2013 almost reach its end. Luckily, this Ramadhan happens at the same time as my college holiday. After putting my whole self into PSM activity like no end from January to July, I'm finally taking a little rest from it. Not only because I'm in my 7th semester of college now, but I have KKN to take care of. I should pull myself away from the organization that I love. I barely come to college and spending my days home, helping with household works and stuff.

Also, Ramadhan means... a lot of Iftaar invitations, from old friends to the recent ones (haha, I didn't even make new friends this year, so anti-social), but unlike previous years, I only accepted few Iftaar invitations from my most precious people.

1. Iftaar with Maximilian

It was fun, even the friend whom I haven't met for a long time showed up. I came late though. We wrote letters to give to each other. We're probably arrogant to say this, but Maximilian is the best generation that ever exists!! 😝

2. Iftaar with childhood friends

We only meet at least once a year. Ever since we graduated from Junior High, we went to different schools, but we're still trying to always keep in touch with each other. They are the kind of friends whom I don't feel awkward with even though we haven't talked for a long time. We ordered one plate of mix toast bread with green tea and vanilla ice cream as its topping and the five of us ate it together. We wouldn't be able to finish it if we ordered one for each person. Sadly, Ema and Mara, couldn't join us this time.

Just like what Kushina Uzumaki said, "You don't need a lot of friends. Just a few, the ones you can really trust, are enough." 

Jaa, happy fasting. 

#VICC - Day 3 (21.06.13) - The Competition Day, Lampion City

Our 3rd day was started by early rehearsal in Hoi An Beach, and I got to capture this awesome sunrise scenery. This picture is chosen to be put in my College Photography Exhibition. Thank God... It was a coincidence to get this awesome silhouette 😆

Last Morning Rehearsal before the Competition. Our Squad!

The Competition
Since I've put our competition pictures story in my previous post, I will only put some pictures of other choirs.

The Choir from the U.S.A, they are the 1st champion of this event while we, PSM UIN Jakarta, are 2nd. They were simply amazing. Truly, the best choir I've ever heard so far 💗

This is The Voice Weavers, where most of the members are middle age. They got the silver medal, but their performance was interesting and they are all very nice to us :)

After the Competition: 

With my best friend, Rahma Putri~

yes, we won the gold diploma!!

After the announcement of all winners, everyone was gathered on stage and sang together. It's a Vietnamese song but we already learned it so we could sing it together. It was amazing and one of the most beautiful moments I've ever felt in my life

We made a circle after the announcement ended, to pray together and show our gratitude. It was beautiful and memorable. Everyone was crying of happiness 💗

with Children Choir from China :D

We still have Gala Dinner with all choirs at night, but before we get to Gala Dinner Place, we had the chance to have a little trip to Hoi An Ancient City. It was amazingly beautiful, they only use lampion to light up the whole city.

Another awesome moment was when our squad was tired after a long walk around Hoi An Ancient City, so we decided to take a break and sing some random choir songs on the street. Suddenly, a lot of people and tourists stopped and watched us. Finally, the Squad decided to have a little performance there. People were so excited to see us, it was great fun. We were dancing and singing along with the crowd, just like a musical 😆

After that not-so-short break, we continued to walk to Gala Dinner place and met these Vietnam Children Choirs. We got along with them really fast and together with them, we sang that Vietnamese song once again. Mostly those kids were singing while we only clap our hands, LOL.  And my friends taught them some ridiculous Bahasa words and slang such as, "Eeee... Aaa.... e e e e... aaa!!" Those kids were so excited and kept saying it along the road. LOL, you don't have to understand Indonesia to say those phenomenal Dahsyat chanting~ And these kids apparently like us a lot. They kept shouting "Indonesia - Vietnam!!" and played around with us 😁

Gala Dinner Place

It was said that after you float this candle in the lake while wishing for something, your wish will come true. Well, I didn't buy myth, but I float that candle without wishing anything LOL 

It was truly a night to remember. We had so much fun and happiness, it's like after 6 months of struggling together, the gold diploma and those wonderful vacations and experiences we didn't think we would get before suddenly paid off all of our sweat. God truly pays us for our hard work with something that's too good to be true. Alhamdulillah...

#VICC - Day 2 (20.06.13) - Beach Rehearsal, Red Team!

So, it's our 2nd day in Hoi An. We woke up early to have morning rehearsal. We visited Hoi An Beach for the first time, it took only 3 minutes by walk from our Hotel. How lucky 😆

It was one of the most awesome rehearsals. Bang Ipul helped us to know more about acting because we played a bit of theatrical in our performance. Although it was only 6 am, the sun was already burning. But the sea breeze and the beautiful view around us encouraged us to keep rehearsing.

The View from my room. Pretty awesome, right :)

So, after breakfast and bath, we're ready to go to Hoi An Conference Hall for Stage Rehearsal. Luckily, it took only 2 minutes by walk from our hotel, but the Interkultur team still gave us a Bus to take us to that place. Haha, what an awesome service though it wastes too much energy for the driver. Having to pick us up and drive us to the place which actually we could get only by walking 😂 Btw, we wore red outfits!

So, that's all. We were supposed to sing in the Friendship Concert but the event was canceled due to the heavy rain. Yeah, can you believe that after we rehearsed in the daylight with a temperature of 40 degrees, the rain suddenly fell down in the evening and didn't stop until night? It was a bit disappointing because we've rehearsed but the show was canceled, but at least we had more time to rest since we would face the real competition the next day. Alhamdulillah~

#VICC - Day 1 (19.06.13) - Arrival, The Beautiful Vietnam

So, after we transited at Changi Airport, we finally reached Hochiminh, Vietnam. The number of motorcycles in Hochiminh seems higher than the car. It's quite scary to cross the road. Luckily, we would be staying at Hoi An. It's a tourism city. Almost like Bali in Indonesia.

Hochimin from the Plane

It would take 20 hours to get to Hoi An from Hochiminh. A bus had been waiting for us. Meet my seatmate along the road, the same photographer, journalist, a very good friend of mine, Uta, or called Trombone in PSM 😆

Beautiful views along the road!

We finally reached our hotel at 4 pm. We only had 15 minutes to put our stuff in the room because we had to get hurry to go to the Hoi An Garden for Stage Rehearsal for tonight's Opening Concert. We didn't have time to rest, but we were so excited so that's okay!

We got to see choirs from different countries. This one is The Voice Weavers from Australia where most of the singers are middle-aged people. They're nice and warm people who are so friendly with us 💚

Finally, after the Stage Rehearsal, we only had about 2 hours to prepare and rehearse before the Opening Concert. The schedule on the first day was tight, but we gave our all in this because we wanted to show the beauty of Indonesian songs. We performed Ondel-Ondel and got the Judges excited. A successful opening. So proud because PSM UIN Jakarta was chosen to perform as Indonesia representative 😀

a little accident, the fireworks accidentally fell into the traditional music players and burned their clothes. Not a severe accident though, they only got their clothes perforated.

Me and Sinya in Betawi costume

they give away free lampion, this is us after the show

It was a quite tough but fun experience to start the first day in Hoi An. We felt tired but we had fun as well. Another tough day still waiting for us. Gotta rest up to pay the sleepless time during 20 hours journey. Thank you Interkultur for such an awesome event.